Lionsgate In Advanced Negotiations To Sell TVGuide.com

EXCLUSIVE. The online TV navigation site could go for about $20M — possibly as much as $25M I’m told — and would enable Lionsgate to cash in on a property that’s considered peripheral to its main production and TV networks businesses. Details about the negotiations are still sketchy; I hear that the potential buyer sees this as a strategic acquisition — it isn’t a private-equity company looking for a quick buck. And while talks are advanced, they still have a way to go, and could still fall apart. Lionsgate reported in May that TVGuide.com had 24M monthly unique users and more than 6.5M mobile application installations. Lionsgate has been weighing options for TVGuide.com for more than a year. It paid $241.6M for the TV Guide website and network in February 2009. Three months later, JP Morgan’s One Equity Partners teamed with investor and producer Allen Shapiro and paid $122.4M for half of the combined operation. Shapiro ran the network and website until a few weeks ago, when he left to run Dick Clark Productions. His lieutenant Mike Mahan is running them on an interim basis.

5 Comments

BobBurger • on Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm

What am I missing? Are they selling it at a 215 million dollar loss? TV Guide is for Frank Costanza anyway, so old school.

Icahn • on Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm

This is what I have been trying to say…Feltheimer and Burns get kudos for producing The Hunger Games – which was a no-brainer, but the strategic decisions for their Company and shareholders are ridiculously inept…

es • on Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm

Carl,

Have you looked @ LGF’s share price lately? We shareholders are thrilled.

I wish you had used both first names and last names when referring to certain persons, since many persons share the same last names and first names. Could you please elaborate on the persons you referenced?

Jeff • on Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm

BobBurger, what you’re missing is that Lionsgate is keeping the television network and only selling the website. They paid $241.6M for the network/website combo, and they’re keeping the network and selling the website for $20M-$25M.

Lionsgate bought the network/website combo from Macrovision (who are now called “Rovi”) three years ago. Macrovision had separated the TV Guide print magazine and sold it to a different entity, for just a dollar if I recall right. So now there’s TV Guide magazine, the TVGuide.com website and whatever sub-websites they own, and the television network Lionsgate is keeping and renaming “TVGN”.